


Ground Zero

by Kkaepsongiya



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Boys In Love, Character Death, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Sad, Sad Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending, Suicide, Zombie Apocalypse, depending on how you look at it, or like...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21743083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kkaepsongiya/pseuds/Kkaepsongiya
Summary: For all that Donghyuck exudes confidence, he’s still just a 19-year-old kid. He’s too young to die. He’s too young for Mark to lose.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	Ground Zero

**Author's Note:**

> Taking a break from writing about sex to write about death LOLOL amazing

“Hyuck? Where are you?” Mark walks through the empty convenience store, voice barely louder than a whisper but seeming to bounce off the walls. He takes another step. “Hyuck, come on, we’ve been in here too long already, we gotta go.” There’s silence for another moment then a short scream and the sound of something falling. Mark’s feels himself running before he even fully comprehends what’s happening. 

The scene he stumbles upon leaves him frozen. 

There’s a lot of blood—on the floor, on the shelves, on  _ Donghyuck _ . The boy is sitting on the floor, legs splayed out, hunched over. A body lays in front of him, unmoving and decaying. Donghyuck’s crying. He’s covered in blood and it takes Mark too long to realize it’s  _ his _ . Donghyuck’s cradling his arm but Mark can see from here, the way a chunk is missing out of him, skin and muscle ripped off in a crude circle. 

He’s been bitten. 

It hits Mark at once and then he’s crying too, tripping over to Donghyuck and dropping down next to him. His hands shake as he reaches out for the boy, yanking him in, cradling him. He barely registers his own crying, the constant stream of “no no  _ no _ ” falling from his mouth, voice filled with dread. This wasn’t supposed to happen, Donghyuck was supposed to be okay. They were supposed to survive this together but now Donghyuck’s bleeding out and, soon, he’ll be on the hunt for live flesh. 

Donghyuck clings to Mark, fingers scraping against his coat, grabbing and trying to pull him in closer and closer and closer even though there’s no space between them. They’re pressed together yet somehow there seems to be a gap separating them, a giant hole drawing them farther apart. He lets out an ugly sob. 

“I’m scared, Mark, I’m so scared. I don’t wanna  _ die _ .” For all that Donghyuck exudes confidence—even in the midst of a fucking  _ zombie outbreak _ —he’s still just a 19-year-old kid. He’s too young to die. He’s too young for Mark to lose. They had so much left to do together, so much to live for. And now, with no warning, it’s all coming to an end. Mark never prepared for a situation like this. When his parents had died, he had cried too but from then he hardened, he compartmentalized. When their friends slowly got killed off one by one, he felt sad but he kept going. He never thought, even for a second, that Donghyuck would leave him. He doesn’t think he can handle this one, knows he can’t. Donghyuck had been the only thing keeping him alive.

He doesn’t know if he can go on alone.

They sit there and cry and cry and cry. They cry until there’s nothing left, until Donghyuck’s turning cold and gray, his eyelashes fluttering as he fights to stay awake through the blood loss. Mark kisses him, and then kisses him again, lips dry and wobbling. He wants Donghyuck’s last moments to be filled with him, with peace, with love. Mark’s covered in the boy’s blood as well now, his shirt sticking grossly to his skin but he doesn’t care. He wants  _ his _ last moments filled with just Donghyuck. Even as the light slowly fades from the boy’s eyes, Mark sees only the days where his skin was brown and glowing, his hair bouncy, big smile, shining eyes. 

Donghyuck whispers an almost silent “I love you” and Mark just barely has time to respond before the boy’s eyes close for the last time. Mark closes his eyes and lets out a shaky sob, his trembling hands reaching into his bag to grab the emergency gun—the one they try hard not to use for fear of drawing the undead to them. He knows he only has so long before Donghyuck’s  _ corpse _ is reanimated and he doesn’t think he could bare to have his last memory of the boy be that. So he raises the gun to Donghyuck’s head and closes his eyes.

“I’ll see you soon, Hyuckie.”

He pulls the trigger, flinching at the sound but not opening his eyes to see the damage. Mark only moves back into his previous position, pulling Donghyuck’s limp body close to his, leaning the boy’s dripping head onto his shoulder. The gun feels so heavy in his hands but his heart weighs down heavier, Donghyuck’s weight bearing into him like a reminder of everything he ever wanted to achieve. Everything he’ll never get to. 

Behind the shelves, a rustling starts up, the sound of zombies shuffling in, drawn by the bang. Mark only lets out a shuddering breath, steeling himself, fingers gripping the gun tightly. Eyes still closed, he presses a kiss to the top of Donghyuck’s head.

“I’ll see you soon,” he repeats. Then he brings the gun up to his own head.

And pulls the trigger.


End file.
